Wednesday, May 10, 2006

Common Ways to Learn to Play Guitar

By: Ian Williamson

Here are some of the more common ways to learn to play theguitar. Try each method to see what works best for you.

Group Lessons: Learning guitar in a group setting can be lessintimidating for the beginning musician. You not only get thebenefit of having a teacher to help you along you can oftenjudge your progress by where the other students are in theclass. The worst part about taking guitar lessons in a groupsetting is the teachers time is divided so you may not get asmuch attention as you might need.

Private Lessons: This is the best way to learn to play theguitar if you can find the right teacher. The instructor cangauge your progress each week and custom design your lessons foryou. You have your teachers' undivided attention and you can askanything you feel is not clear.

CD Lessons: There are many instruction CDs available in nearlyany style you can think of. The advantage of this style oflearning is you can listen to the CD as many times as you want.Any part that is not clear can be replayed as many times asneeded. The disadvantages include the songs may not be the onesyou desire to learn and the instruction is more general withoutany way of knowing where you are in your musical journey.

DVD Lessons: Instruction on DVD includes all the good and badpoints of the CD instruction. The number one advantage tolearning guitar by watching DVD video is you can see what theinstructor is doing. Visual learning goes a long way towardanswering the questions burning in your mind.

Music Books: Music books are a time-honored way to learn how toplay the guitar. You can find more books on more differentstyles than most any other way to learn. You need to beproficient in reading music if you do not know the song you arelearning. Most folks have a hard time getting the song right ifthey do not know the song they are learning.

Internet: In these modern times the Internet is a wonderfulresource in learning to play the guitar. There are many websitesthat will show you how to play the exact notes your guitar heroplays. Membership sights are plentiful where for a small monthlyfee you can learn most any style you choose.

Friends: Do not overlook your guitar playing buddies. Mostguitar pickers are a friendly bunch who will be more than happyto help you along.

Slowing Down Recordings: You can purchase software that slowsdown your favorite recordings. This allows you to hear eachphrase at a speed where you can pick out the different notes.This is a great way to learn to play.

Playing With Other People: The very best way to learn to playthe guitar is to get together with other people and play. Thisis the fastest way to learn. You will learn more by getting outand playing with other people than you ever will sitting at homeplaying by yourself.

The method you decide to use to learn to play guitar is up toyou. Try to practice four or five times a week for 30 minutes ata time and you will be playing guitar before you know it.

About the author:For More GuitarLessons by Ian Williamson please visithttp://guitar.you-can-learn.info